Impeller for washing machines



Dec. zo, .1938. J. wHY'TE.

Y I IMPELLERFOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Jari. 23, 1957 2 Sheets-SheetA 2fl .l l

INVENTR Jiuz Uh gte ATTORNEY.

i?atented Dec. 20, i938.

NETE i vsraras" autres raar ortica s 2,140,866 maman ron wesmc MachinesqHohn Whyte, chicago, m.. assignatc arcane Household UtilitiesGorporation, Ghicago, lill.,

a corporation or mlinois application Januar-'y 2s, isst, serian Nc.121,922

Claims..

tion is directed to improvements for overcoming.

certain disadvantages and diiiiculties encountered in the use of certainwell known types of l0 `trashing machines provided with impeller oragitator members. i

ln certain commercial types of washing machilies the impeller oragitator member is mounted for rotation in a direction transverse to Lthevertical axis of the tub, and is disposed 4a substantial 'distancefrom the sides and bottom o said tub so as to permit free circulation ofthe washing duid and clothes around and beneath the impeller member. Incertain other 2@ commercial constructions the impeller or agitatormember is provided with a flanged base which is positioned in relativelyclose proximity to the bottom of the tub.

In washing machines oi the type having the impeller member mounted asubstantial distance above the bottom of the tub it has been found thatfrequently clothing and other articles being washed become tangled andsnagged by reason of the fact that forces acting on the water and onsaid articles have a tendency to move the clothes with the body ciwater, while at the same time a portion of the clothes may contact andhave a tendency to cling to or wrap around the stationary supportingstructure in the center of the tub, which provides a support for theimpeller member. This frequently results in several articles becomingintertwined, snagged and tangled, reducing the uniformity of washing.

In the other commercial form of washing machine above indicated, whereinthe impeller member is mounted with its anged base in close proximity tothe bottom of the tub, it has been found necessary to frequently removethe im- 45 peller member from the tub for cleansing Aboth the bottomofthe impeller member as well 'as the tub for removing accumulatedresidue, such as hardened soap matter, dirt, fibers and lint of thefabric that has been washed. At times this 50 accumulation beneath theimpeller becomes so great that it impairs the operation thereof, andfurthermore, sometimes this accumulation is such that if permitted toremain beneath the impeller, a. portion of this matter may become floosened the next time the machine is used, re-

(CH. 6de-i131) sulting in unnecessary contamination of the Washing uid.

In its broadest aspects the present invention is directed to theprovision of an improved impeller member, preferably of unitaryconstruc- 5 tion, including a substantial area disposed in a planetransverse to the vertical axis of the tub, and wherein the under sideof said area is provided With a plurality of circumferentially spacedapart depending ribs or vanes which serve to l0 impel the washing fluidand clothes in an outward direction with respect to the vertical axis ofthe tub.

By the provision of the ribs or vanes beneath the impellermember in therespective commerl5 cial Washing machine constructions above referredto, the above mentioned dimculties and disadvantages encountered areobviated.

Other features and advantages resulting from ythe present invention willbe apparent from the 20 -ollowing description taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of an impeller meinber embodying the presentinvention.`

' tub. In. the construction shown in the drawings reference character I0designates a conventional 35 form of tub, having associated therewith asupporting frame Il which, together with the tub', are rigidly connectedto supporting legs, not shown, for supporting the tub in proper spacedrelation to the floor. The impeller member des- 40 ignated at l2 ismounted on a suitable support, herein shown as a hollow support I4, theupper portion of which is of ,frusto-conical form and the lower portionof said support being provided with a marginal annular iiange I5,disposed beneath the tub and rigidly secured by bolts i6 to a ilange I 1of a housing I8 disposed beneath the tuband carried on the frame Il.Interposed between said flange I5 of 4the support and the under surfaceof the tub bottom is a. vgasket |58. Mounted on the frame I I is a primemover, hereinv shown in the form of an electric motor 20, provided witha driving pulley 2i which through the medium of a V-belt 22 drives apulley 23, which is operatively connected to suitable re- 56 versingmechanism enclosed within the housing I8 for transmitting movementl toa. vertically disposed drive shaft 24 which is journaled in a bearing 25associated with said housing, a d having its upper end protrudingupwardly a ove the bottom of the tub, as seen in the drawings. It is tobe understood that the mechanism enclosed within the housing i8 is suchas to cause a definite amount of angular rotation of the shaft 24,alternately in opposite directions, and since said mechanism does notconstitute any part of the present invention it is believed that adetail description and illustration thereof is unnecessary.

The bottom wall of the tub is provided with a relatively large apertureor opening 2l to permit the support ill to be projected upwardlytherethrough into the interior of the tub. To provide a seal for saidaperture around the support I il, an annular threaded ring 28 is sweatedonto the external lower portion of the housing i4, to be disposed abovethe bottom of the tub, on which ring is threaded a nut 29, adapted toengage a.

resilient sealing gasket 3l! for tightly compressing same against thebottom of the tub surrounding the opening 2l and thereby provide afluid-tight seal.

The upper end of the cone support I6 has rigidly secured, as by sweatinginside the neck thereof, a reduced sleeve of an intermediate member alof a universal ball-and-socket joint. Said member 3l is providedinteriorly and exteriorly with concentric spherical surfaces. Swvellymounted on the exterior surface of the member 3i is a cooperating memberS3, the inner surface of which corresponds exactly to the outer surfaceof the member 23 i, and formed integrally with said member 33 is anupstanding hub portion 3d which is rigidly secured by means of a. pin 35to an impeller shaft S6 which extends downwardly through the member 3land is supported by the member 33 seated upon the member 3|. .Theimpeller shaft is disposed at an angle to the vertical axis of the driveshaft 25, with the lower portion thereof extending downwardly andinteriorly of the hollow support ill. Mounted on' the upper end of theimpeller shaft 36 is the impeller member I2, disposed in a plane normalto the axis of the impeller shaft.

The impeller shaft 36 -is held against aida] movement in theball-and-socket members 3| and 38 by the construction now to bedescribed. A collar 38 is rigidly secured to the lower end of the shaft36 by a pin 39 and reacting between said collar and a sleeve 40 is acompression spring 4| which urges the upper end of the sleeve 40upwardly against a cooperating internal member 42 of the universaljoint. Said member 42 is of hollow semi-spherical form and having itsexternal surface corresponding to and swivelly engagingv the internalsurface of the intermediate universal member 3l, and provided with anaperture 42* through which the impeller shaft extends. The extreme lowerend of the impeller shaft 36 extends through an aperture 45 in the outerend of a laterally extending inclined arm 48 of a. crank member 41 whichis rigidly secured by means of the pin 48 to the upper end of the driveshaft 24.

As the drive shaft 24 is rotated it will be manifest that due to thecrank arm being connected to the impeller shaft 36, said impeller shaftwill be rotated in an orbit around the axis of the drive shaft, andthereby imparting corresponding movement to the impeller member I2. Toaccommodate such movement, the inner member 3| of the universal joint isprovided with an opening 3|'A at its upper end to provide clearance forthe impeller shaft in its travel in said orbit about the axis of thedrive shaft 2B.

The impeller member I2 preferably is in the form of a unitary casting,and as shown includes a laterally extending marginal flange portion i2*of substantially circular outline, formed with a series of hills andvalleys to provide a sinuous contour to both upper and lower surfaces ofthe flanged portion IZB. Said enged portion merges into an upwardlyextending irregular shaped dome I2b, the upper portion of which isprovided with a boss I2c in which is disposed a springpressed detent Slicarried by a screw bushing Eli. the detent engaging in an alignedannular groove 36 in the impeller shaft 36 for detachably securing theimpeller member in position on said shaft. Mounted on the upper end ofsaid dome portion of the impeller is an annular ring 52 secured in placeon the shoulder formed at the upper end of said dome by means of a cap5d, the marginal edges of which are crimped into an annular groove I2dformed in the upper end of the dome of the impeller with the lower edgesof said cap engaging the annular ring b2 for holding it in fixedposition. Said ring 52 serves as a convenient hand-grasp for bodilyremoving the impeller member from the impeller shaft. Formed centrallyon the under side of the impeller member is an integral, invertedfrusta-conical skirt l2", the lower portion of which is adapted toextend around and slightly below the lower edge of the outer universaljoint member 33, out of contact therewith. i

Formed on the under side of the anged portion I2 and the dome of theimpeller member are a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apartradially extending ribs or vanes l2f which extend continuously fromadjacent the outer marginal edge of said anged portion and merge intothe inclined surface of said lskirt i2. These vanes serve as impellermembers so that when the impeller is rotated about the vertical axisofthe drive shaft 24 the washing uid and clothes immersed therein areimpelled in an outward direction, and the currents of fluid beingcontinuously set up by the movement of the impeller member tends toconstantly move clothing or other articles being washed, in an outwarddirection away from the hollow support I4. It has been found from actualexperiment that this construction practically eliminates entirelytangling and snagging of articles being washed.

From the foregoing it is believed to be obvious that the use of variesor ribs on the under side of the impeller or agitator member of the typehaving a flanged base disposed in close proximity to the bottom of thetub will have a denite tend- ,ency to prevent accumulation of depositsof residue and foreign matter beneath the impeller member so as torender it substantially unnecessary to remove said impeller for thepurpose o! cleansing the same, as well as the bottom of thev tub. It istherefore believed that illustration and a detail description of thistype of washing ma.-

I claim: l

1. in a washing machine, in combination with a tub adapted to containthe washing uid and clothes to be washed, an impeller member positionedcentrally within the tub at an angle to the vertical axis of the tub,and movable bodilyin an orbit about said axis of the tub, said impellerbeing mounted for free rotation about its own axis and spaced annularlyfrom the side wall of the tub and located above the bottom wall thereofa sufficient distance'to provide space for the i'ree movement of theclothes and i'luid around and beneath the impeller member, said impellermember being of unitary formation including a substantially continuousarea extending transversely of the vertical axis of the tub, and aplurality of circumferentially spaced apart depending ribs formedintegrally with and projecting perpendicularly from the under side ofsaid area and extending continuously from adjacentl the outer marginaledge of said area and terminating adjacent the center thereof.

2. In a washing machine, the combination with a tub adapted to containthe washing uid and clothes to be washed, a vertical drive shaft havinga portion extending upwardly through the bottom of the tub, a crank armcarried on said portion of the drive shaft, and means for rotating saidshaft and arm; of an impeller member connected to the outer member ofsaid arm. said impeller member being positioned with its axis disposedobliquely to the angle of the drive shaft and adapted' to be bodilyrevolved with said arm in an orbit about the `axis of said drive shaftand being freely rotatable about its own axis, said impeller memberbeing of unitary formation including a substantially continuousareaextendingin a plane at an angle to the vaxis of said shaft, and

a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart depending ribs formedintegrally with and projecting perpendicularly from the under side ofsaid area and extending continuously from adjacent the'outer marginaledge of said area and terminating adjacent the center thereof.

3. In a washing machine, the combination with a tub adapted to containthe washing fluid and clothes to be washed, a vertical drive shafthaving a portion extending upwardly through the bottom of the tub, acrank arm carried on said portion ofvthe drive shaft, an upwardlyextending impeller shaft connected to the outer end of the crank arm anddisposed with its axis at an angie to the axis of the drive shaft, meansfor rotating said drive shaft and arm; of an impeller member mounted forfree rotation on the impeller shaft and including a substantiallycontinuous area disposed in a plane at substantially 118111; angles toaudace the axis of said shaft, and adapted to be bodily revolvedtherewith in an orbit about the axis of the `drive shaft, said impellermember being of unitary formation and including a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced apart depending ribs formed integrally with andprojecting perpendicularly from the under side of Asaid area andextending vcontinuously from adjacent the outer marginal edge of saidarea and terminating adjacent' the center thereof.

In a washing machine, in combination with a tub adapted to contain thewashing fluid and clothes to be washed, an impeller member positionedcentrally within the tub at an angle to the vertical axis of-the tub andmovable bodily in an orbit about said axis ofthe tub and being freelyrotatable about its own axis, said impeller being spaced annularly fromthe side wall of the tub and located above the bottom wallthereof asufii- -cient distance to provide space for the free movement of theclothes and iiuid around and beneath the impeller member, said impellermember being of unitary formation including a substantially continuousarea extending transversely of the vertical axis of the tub, an inverted.frusto-conical skirt formed integrally with the under side andsubstantially centrally of said area of the impeller member, and aplurality of circumferentially spaced apart depending ribs formedintegrally with the under side of said area and extending continuouslyfrom adjacent the outer marginal edge of said area and terminatingadjacent said skirt.

5. In a washing machine, in combination with a tub adapted to containthe washing uid and ment of the clothes and uid around and beneath theimpeller member, said impeller member being of unitary formationincluding a substantialy continuous area extending transversely of thevertical axis of the tub, an inverted frustoconical skirt formedintegrally with theunder side and substantially centrally of said areaof the impeller member, and a plurality of radially extendingcircumferentially spaced apart depending ribs formed integrally with'theunder side of said area and extending continuously from adjacenttheouter marginal edge of said area and terminatin'g adjacent saidskirt. l

` JOHN

